The chances of anything coming to North Staffordshire from Mars are a million to one against – but still they come.

This Saturday, three Martian war machines straight out of the classic H.G Wells novel War Of The Worlds will invade Newcastle town centre, during the Homecoming event.

It is to promote Newcastle’s links with the famous author, who stayed with a friend in Basford during a period of convalescence in 1888. It was there that he first saw the crimson glow coming from the blast furnaces of Shelton Bar, which inspired some of the descriptions in his hugely influential novel.

The event will showcase H.G Wells' links to the Newcastle area

Author and illustrator Glenn Martin James, of May Bank, made the Martian war machines which will be on display at the Guildhall on Saturday. It took him six-months to make them at a cost of about £100, using reclaimed materials.

Glenn, aged 49 – who will portray Wells when he shows off his machines – said: “HG Wells came to stay in Basford in 1888, when he was in very poor health and still very young.

“As a young teacher, he had suffered a sporting injury to his chest, and was convinced he would actually die.

Read More

“He stayed with a school friend, William Burton and his wife Eliza, at 18 Victoria Street, and while there, something had an impact on his imagination which changed his career forever.

“Wells’s front bedroom overlooked the sloping hill down to Etruria, and in 1888 the houses which are now opposite had yet to be built, so he had a clear view down to the industrial heartlands below. At this point, the huge Shelton Bar Steelworks was in full operation, and at night the steelworkers would vent the furnaces.

One of the full-scale War Machines

“Famously, when they did this, the whole sky at night was lit up with an incredible red-orange light which looked distinctly alien.

“Added to the smoky, incendiary industrial landscape of the pot banks, this inspired his imagination and got him thinking about the red planet Mars.

“He is said to have imagined the tall Martian war machines stalking about in this red glow.

“Wells said that the atmosphere of the region made a colossal impression on him, one which never left him.

“Culturally speaking this really is landmark stuff. Wells is the father of science fiction, along with Jules Verne and Victor Hugo – but his major early works started virtually in Basford and Etruria.”

Saturday will be the second time Glenn’s Martian war machines are put on patrol in Newcastle. They were previously displayed in early June during an event commemorating Queen Victoria’s 200th birthday.

Read More

Glenn added: “It is no exaggeration to say that this display has been a huge success and we have been invited back by the Friends of the Guildhall to take part in the Homecoming festivities.”

Glenn’s wife and fellow author Angela Marie James will play the role of Wells’s host during his time in Basford, Eliza Burton.

H.G Wells (Image: Mirrorpix)

Angela, aged 41, said: “We are really passionate about history and we work on the Newcastle town trail. We are both local authors who go out and perform our work.

“I will be bringing along some Victorian toys, as I did when we took part in the Queen Victoria event. Last time the adults were fascinated with the war machines and the children were playing with the toys.”

Glenn and Angela will be displaying their Martian war machines and talking about HG Wells at the Guildhall on Saturday during Homecoming, which takes place between 11am and 5pm.

Follow us on Instagram - Featuring pictures past and present from across Stoke-on-Trent, North Staffordshire & South Cheshire - and if you tag us in your posts, we could repost your picture on our page! We also put the latest news in our Instagram Stories. Click here to follow StokeonTrentLive on Instagram.